


Green Eyed

by steak_sandwich



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: M/M, idk how to write him really, jealous leon whew, sorry if lance is written poorly in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:47:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22564987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steak_sandwich/pseuds/steak_sandwich
Summary: Leon finds himself facing his toughest opponent yet, and he's not only battling to win for the people of Galar, but he's battling to win over Raihan's affections, too.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan
Comments: 14
Kudos: 158





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyyyyyyyy
> 
> Inspired by the episode of anipoke coming up lol.  
> I originally intended this to be a one shot but I think it's better paced out over two chapters. (maybe three)
> 
> I will get back on "Let's Keep This Between Us" after I've done this, I felt like getting this one off my chest.
> 
> Hope you enjoy ~

"Meet me outside your apartment at 3? I should be done in Hammerlocke by 2."

Leon had read the text that Raihan had sent him over and over as he traversed the streets of Wyndon, searching desperately for his home, as if it would provide some kind of aid in his venture, only it only served to frustrate him more as the minutes visibly ticked by one his phone.  
The endless winding, repetitive streets of Wyndon were nothing like being at home in Postwick, although admittedly he could easily get lost there too with his disjointed sense of direction.

What didn't help was being stopped every so often by his fans each time he thought he made some kind of progress in finding his home, practically begging for pictures and autographs and holding him there for conversation, and who was he to say no?  
His fans meant a lot to him, even if it meant he was waylaid in the process.

"Are you having a champion time?" The greeting tripped off his tongue easily, a catchphrase that was well practiced in all the times that he had said it before, even if it was starting to grate on his nerves.  
His patience would always win over his annoyance though, even if he was not, in fact, having a _champion time_ himself in situations like this.

By the time he'd been accosted by what felt like his hundredth fan of the day, the sun had completely set and twilight was on its approach.  
He waved them goodbye, keeping up his friendly facade for as long as they were in view before almost melting down and swiping his phone again to check the time.  
It was nearly 6pm, and he could curse himself for being so airheaded sometimes.

He took a sharp intake of breath in an attempt to calm his nerves and he was certain it did anything but as he scrolled quickly through his contacts, desperately searching for Raihan so he could explain his hopeless situation to him.

He jabbed the green phone symbol as soon as his name had appeared and held the phone to his ear, waiting with bated breath for him to pick up, sighing in relief as he heard the ringing halt and the shuffling of movement thereafter.  
"Hello? Lee where are you?"  
He chewed his lip as he considered his reply, letting silence fill the air momentarily.  
"Hello?" Raihan repeated.  
"Hi..." Leon finally replied, sheepish, and it was Raihan's turn to be silent, as if he was thinking about his next words too.  
"You're lost aren't you...?" He sighed, tone almost accusatory.  
"How did you know?!" Leon cried, started, earning a chuckle from the other man.  
" _I knew it._ You always get lost..."  
"Not _Always_ -"  
"Always." He cut in, firm, sighing once more.  
"I hope you haven't been waiting for me long..." Leon spoke, still a little sheepish at his stupidity.  
"Nah, I went to a battle cafe to wait for you. Put the tracker setting on, on your Rotom phone and I'll come find you, then we can grab that bite to eat?"  
Leon nodded, quickly replying with words as the realisation dawned on him they weren't sharing video images to eachother in that moment before turning on his tracker.  
"Done."  
"Alright, see you in ten, stay where you are." He ordered, hanging up almost immediately before Leon could get another word in.

He pouted and withdrew the Rotom from his eat for the final time before slipping it back into his pocket and leaning against the nearby wall for balance, waiting for his best friend to turn up and save him from the predicament for the umpteenth time.  
What made it worse was that he was sure it wouldn't be the last time, either.  
He started drumming his fingers in rhythm against the wall and humming out of boredom above anything else when he heard the footsteps approaching, smiling as he glanced up to see the familiar figure approaching him.  
" _My hero_ " He hummed, meeting Raihan halfway.  
"What's this now... The 18th time?" He questioned, folding his arms in mock annoyance.  
"Why? Are you counting?" He countered teasingly, stepping to his side as they made their way back to Leon's apartment.  
Raihan simply snorted in response and strode ahead of him, glancing back now and then to ensure he was still keeping his pace slow enough for the shorter man to keep up with him.

-

"So how was your day?" Raihan questioned, holding Leon's legs in his lap as they wrapped up in one another uncomfortably on the sofa.  
"Mm, same old, really, just preparing for the finals... Training... Boring meetings with Rose." He listed off, counting on his finger with each point he'd made.  
"What about you?" He asked.  
"Not too much, there was only one challenger today and they weren't much cop, managed to wipe them all out with Snaps alone." He hummed in thought, readjusting his position on the sofa as he felt his legs start to go dead.

He opened his mouth to say more when he was interrupted by the sound of Leon's Rotom phone trilling noisily and springing into the air to alert him of an incoming call.  
He didn't dare interrupt as he watched Leon answer the phone, but he decided to eavesdrop all the same, not that he had any choice in the matter if Leon wasn't budging his legs, anyway.

"Hello? Oh.. Oleana..."  
Raihan rolled his eyes as soon as he realised who it was, could they not leave him alone for one evening? The guy couldn't catch a break.  
Leon caught eyecontact just as Raihan rolled his eyes and held back the laughter that threatened to burst out, taking in a breath and exhaling in an attempt to stop it, luckily for him it succeeded, else he'd have Oleana to answer to no doubt.

Raihan rested his head on his hand as he watched Leon converse, taking in every little change in his expression and smiling in turn every time he did.  
He was caught off guard as a particular name escaped his lips, though.  
"Lance? He wants to battle _me?_ "  
Raihan blinked and stared in disbelief as the realisation dawned on him.  
"In a week? That's not enough-"  
Raihan could hear Oleana's boring drawl even from where he was sitting.  
"Alright..." Leon replied, unsure, before finishing up the conversation and finally hanging up.

The two remained in silence as they each processed the news in their own time.  
Leon's lips pressed into a thin line as he considered the importance of such a match, let alone the honour of having the opportunity of battling such a legendary opponent, but there was no way he was going to lose to him, either.

Raihan on the other hand was more than giddy with excitement, grinning from ear to ear as he considered the prospect of _seeing_ him in person let alone the possibility of meeting his idol, not to mention being able to see his best friend take him on.

Raihan finally broke the silence before he let himself get carried away, just to confirm that what he heard wasn't just some kind of dream.  
"When she said Lance... She meant _THE_ Lance, right?"

Leon silently nodded, eyes narrowing slightly as he took note of the excitement Raihan was exuding, he wanted to be worthy of that kind of affection, too.

"Arceus... Lee, this is going to be the best match ever!" He encouraged, patting his shoulder to ease some kind of reaction out of him, noticing the serious expression that played on his features.  
"Yeah.." He replied nonchalantly, eyebrows furrowed and lips still turned slightly downwards in a frown.  
"What's wrong?" Raihan pressed, pushing at the corner of his mouth in an attempt to make him smile a little.  
And it did work, momentarily, he smiled falsely in an attempt to appease Raihan but said nothing more on the situation.  
"I'm just going to have an early night... You're free to stay over if you want. _If you want_ " He emphasised, removing his legs from Raihan's lap before climbing off the sofa.  
"Lee? What is it?" He tried again, eyebrows furrowed in worry and confusion as he watched Leon wordlessly head up the stairs, he decided it was best to leave him to it if he wanted to act like that.

"Lee... You can do it you know.." He murmured quietly before settling down himself for the evening.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok this is ending up longer than I expected it to be after all, I will hopefully wrap it all up in the third chapter but I'll see how it goes.  
> (I don't like making my chapters too wordy personally hence why I'm spacing it out like this. I know it's easier to write it all in one big chunk but I really struggle to write over 2500 words in one sitting and I'm not the type to go back to works already written ygm)
> 
> tldr sorry this hasn't been wrapped up in 2 chapters like I thought it would be, and i'm unsure if it'll be done in three or not yet.
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoy ~
> 
> -

Leon pushed aside any feelings of guilt that threatened to haunt him for leaving Raihan in the lurch like he did, especially as he had invited him to Wyndon for a meal and some time together.  
Yet since getting the call from Oleana he knew that he had to completely shift his plans around once more, and he was _tired_ of having no freedom to do as he pleased.

He collapsed into the bed gracelessly and made no effort to get himself ready for bed, because he knew that he'd end up getting no sleep in the end, anyway.  
The fear of losing did get to him, that was for sure, but what had gotten to him more was the way Raihan's eyes had lit up at the mere mention of Lance's name.

He found himself pouting petulantly, he didn't remember the last time Raihan was as excited to see him when they'd met for the first time in a while.  
"I won't lose to this glorified... I don't know!" He grumbled, frustrated as he fished around in his pocket for his phone.  
"Rotom, bring up some videos of Lance's battles for me, please." He ordered, climbing off of the bed momentarily having changed his mind about changing out of his League clothes.

"Yes!" It trilled, hovering around the room excitedly at the prospect of doing Leon a favour while he busied himself rooting through his wardrobes for something comfier to wear.  
He finally settled on a pair of loose fitting bottoms and a top with a Charizard painted clumsily on it, something that Hop had gifted him when he was five years old.  
It felt a little snug on him now, but he treasured it all the same.

"Search complete! I have located 1201 videos of Elite Four matches!"  
Leon smiled as he lay back on the bed, carefully taking the Rotom out of the air and holding it above him.  
"Good job." He praised, playing out the first option that came up to analyse his battle style and garner whatever weaknesses he could from him.

He knew next to nothing about the man, if he was honest, not even the fact that his team primarily consisted of Dragon types.  
"No wonder Raihan likes you.." He muttered, pausing the video briefly to take up a pen and his notebook to scribble down notes.  
"Gyarados... That will be a problem against Charizard... And that Seadra looks to be a Water type, too." He hummed, noting down a question mark next to their names.  
"Maybe Aegislash or Mr Rime could take them on.. In fact, Mr Rime would be pretty good against... Aero..Dactyl?"  
He ruffled his hair in frustration, how was he going to have a fair battle with him if he knew next to nothing about Kanto Pokemon?

"Rotom, could you look up Aerodactyl, Seadra and... Dragon..ite for me please." He asked, chewing on the end of his pen in frustration, writing down notes in turn as Rotom listed off different facts about each of them.

"So he has a Charizard too, huh..." He observed, resting his head on his hand as he watched the match progress on his phone, tutting as he defeated his opponent in one fell swoop.  
"Not as impressive as _mine.._ " He grumbled, pulling the app aside and swiping it off his phone.

"Hm.. Guess that's enough research for now, it _is_ getting pretty late. Thank you Rotom, you can go charge up now." He smiled, watching it float to his bedside table to charge on the port he left there.  
He stifled a yawn and stretched a little before rolling to one side, closing his eyes as the exhaustion began to envelope him.

-

" _Message from Oleana! Message from Oleana!_ "  
Leon woke with a groan, tapping his phone gently as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes, attempting to focus them enough to read the time before proceeding to read the text.  
"Urgh.. it's 6am, what does she want _now_ "  
He was half tempted to just ignore it and go back to sleep when the sound of ringing interrupted any attempt of doing so.  
He made a noise of irritation and swiped Rotom from the bedside table, reluctantly stabbing the green phone button as soon as he picked it up.  
"Yes?" He snapped with more malice than intended, however if Oleana had sensed his ire, she didn't seem to regard it in any way.  
"I have cleared your schedule for tomorrow, as per the Chairman's wishes, you are to dine with him and Lance as soon as he has arrived from Kanto. Then there will be a press-conference announcing the Exhibition Match between the two of you."

He dragged his fingers down his face, half in an attempt to wake himself up some more, and half out of frustration.  
_I'd rather poke my eyes out with hot iron than spend any social time with them._  
He managed a smile, even if it went unseen.  
"That.. That sounds great, where is the restaurant?" He managed, keeping his tone as friendly as possible given his mood.  
"Hulbury, 12pm, you know the Chairman loves it there." She remarked before abruptly hanging up.  
"No I really don't..." He sighed, dropping face-first back into the pillows in an attempt to get more sleep before heading out.

-

However much time had passed, he had no idea, but all of a sudden he was being shaken awake by someone towering over him.  
"Five more minutes..." He grumbled, pulling his pillows closer into himself, earning laughter from the perpetrator.  
"Come on, sleeping beauty, you've slept in long enough."  
Leon cracked one eye open and couldn't help but genuinely smile in return as he gradually woke up and came to realisation as to who it was.

"Do you want some breakfast? Or should I call it brunch now." Raihan laughed, nudging his side with an elbow.  
"Shit! What time is it?!" Leon jumped up in a panic, practically launching himself at the mirror to get ready as Raihan watched him in confusion.  
"It's like 1pm, why?"  
"Oh _Arceus_ they'll kill me..." He slumped to the floor, all attempt of putting any effort to get showered and ready completely thrown out of the window.  
"Who? Oleana?"  
"Yeah... I was supposed to go to Hulbury to dine with them and Lance at 12."  
"...Lee... That's tomorrow."  
Leon blinked slowly as the realisation dawned on him and he felt like being swallowed whole by the ground beneath him.  
"You're right... Wait- How do _you_ know?"  
"They invited me, too. I'm so excited, aren't you?"  
_No._  
Leon managed another smile and nodded.  
"Y-yeah, of course! I've always wanted to meet Lance." He lied, scratching at his chin nervously in hopes Raihan wouldn't see through it.  
He really couldn't care less about the entire situation, but he knew it was all for the people of Galar, it would benefit the region for sure if it was going to broadcast everywhere. If anything though, he really wasn't sure he liked the idea of Raihan meeting up with him, though he couldn't place his finger on why.

-

"So you're on time for once." Oleana drawled, typing away on her phone thereafter for whatever reason.  
"Yeah.. Good thing I brought Raihan with me, huh?" He retorted, glancing up at the taller man, who if anything could be likened to an excitable puppy in that moment, practically bouncing on his feet, unable to mask his excitement.  
"Is he here yet? Is he here yet???" He echoed, looking around here and there for any signs of the man.  
"No." Oleana replied simply, her mood a complete contrast from Raihan's, checking her watch to acertain the time.  
"His flight had been delayed for a while, so he'll be running a little late."

Raihan's shoulders sagged sadly knowing he wouldn't be seeing him any time soon after all, and even though Leon hated to see it, he still patted him reassuringly all the same.  
"I doubt he'll be much longer."  
"I hope not." Raihan whined, trudging sulkily through the doors of the restaurant while Leon followed, stopping and glancing back at Oleana.  
"Mind if we have starters or snacks while we're waiting?"  
"If the Chairman says so, he's already inside."  
Leon's eyes narrowed in annoyance at that.  
"Could have told us sooner..." He grumbled under his breath as he finally stepped in to look for Raihan and the Chairman, pulling up a chair opposite the pair as soon as he saw them waving him over.

"Excited?" Were the first words out of the Chairman's mouth.  
Should he really be all that excited?  
He smiled and nodded, keeping up the pretense.  
"Very. I assure you I'll be able to defeat him with no problems though, Sir."  
Rose chuckled at that.  
"I like your confidence, don't underestimate him though. Especially as he has asked for a No Dynamax rule to be implemented, for fairness."  
"No Dynamax?"  
Rose laced his fingers together and rested his elbows on the table in thought.  
"That's right." He affirmed with a nod.  
"But I'm sure it's nothing you can't handle, right?" He smiled, leaning back in his seat and swaying a little in it, careful not to fall back completely.  
"I don't know if Oleana has iterated this to you, but we will be having a press conference later to announce the match, I have no doubt that the tickets will sell out in seconds, too."  
If Leon looked any harder at Rose he could have sworn his eyes would turn to pound signs.

"Any questions?" Rose cute in finally, not missing the stare from the other man and Leon considered his words before asking him.  
"If I were to Dynamax, what would happen?"  
"Simple, you would be penalised - You would be disqualified. And we can't have that happen now, can we?" He smiled sweetly and it made Leon's stomach turn.  
He shook his head in response, avoiding his gaze.  
"No, sir."  
"Good."

Rose glanced over at Raihan.  
"You're quiet." He observed, taking a sip of the water that had been left at his side.  
"Oh- Uh... Just thinking."  
_Daydreaming._ Leon thought.  
"I imagine you're excited to meet such a legend? A fellow dragon trainer to boot."  
Raihan laughed nervously, knowing full well he'd been read correctly, but he didn't confirm nor deny Rose's suspicions as Oleana stepped into the booth, cutting off any further conversation between the three, even if it was mostly on Rose's part.

"Sir there is a problem, the flight got rescheduled for tomorrow."  
"Ah, that can't be helped." He remarked, finishing off his water in one go and setting the glass down carefully.  
"Are you able to bring the press conference forward?"  
"Already done, sir. They'll be ready to broadcast on the hour."  
"Thank you Oleana. Come Leon, you should get ready for the press conference, and Raihan you're free to do as you please."

Their hearts both sunk in that exact moment for very different reasons, Leon for knowing that he would still have no time to himself on his supposed day off and Raihan for not getting to dine with his idol after all.

"Uh, ok... I guess I'll see you later Lee?" Raihan managed, glancing over at his friend.  
"Ye-"  
"I can assure you he'll be indisposed for the rest of the day." Rose had cut in before getting to his feet.  
"We'll be having the conference at Wyndon, please strive to be on time Champ." He remarked, patting Leon's shoulder with more force than necessary before leaving the restaurant, Oleana hot on his heel.

Raihan instantly took Leon's hand in his own out of sight of everyone else and gave it a light squeeze in reassurance, he had no idea what spurred him to do so in that moment but he knew that Leon was miserable and he hated it.  
"It'll be ok. I promise."  
"Even if you _do_ lose- If!" He emphasised the moment Leon glared at him.  
"Just remember it's an Exhibition Match, it'll have no effect on your rankings or your Championship Status."  
Leon shook his head.  
"It's not that..."  
"Then?"  
He smiled reassuringly as he pulled his hand free carefully.  
"Don't worry about it. I should really get going."  
"Want me to come with? You won't get lost if I'm with you, and Rose didn't say I couldn't come with you exactly."  
"Are you sure? It'll be boring-"  
"I'll be fine." He interjected, already rising to his feet. "You look like you need the support anyway, else you'll just crumble."  
Leon huffed but said nothing else because they both knew that he was right.  
"Alright, but don't come crying to me if you're bored."  
He grinned in response, exposing his canines in turn.  
"Of course I won't."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok this really does keep extending beyond my expectations haha
> 
> fighting a cold atm so sorry if this is a little shaky in places
> 
> also idk how old lance really is lol I just picture him being 40 y/o aged like a fine wine

"I really think we're going the wrong way. Isn't the Stadium that way?" Leon queried, gesturing in the opposite direction, though his pleas fell on deaf ears as Raihan had simply elected to ignore him when it came to direction.  
"Are you listening to me? We'll be late." Leon huffed, striding up to the taller man and reaching up to pinch his ear.

"I said-"  
"I know, I know what you said." Raihan responded grumpily, swatting his hand away.  
"And I _know_ you've spent more time in Wyndon than I have but I still don't trust you know where you're going."

"I promise it's that way."

Raihan narrowed his eyes in suspicion at his words, processing them before replying.  
"You shouldn't make promises if you can't keep them."  
" _Raihan!_ " He protested, moving to grab his arm in an attempt to stop him as he continued on his way instead of listening to his suggestion.

He had failed to halt Raihan in his tracks and reluctantly followed him again, keeping silent as he lead the way through the hustle and bustle of Wyndon and upping his pace to match his friend's long strides.  
"We're nearly there according to Rotom." He remarked, putting the phone away in favour of trusting his own sense to carry them the rest of the way.  
"Arceus, how hard is it to find such a massive building anyway?"  
"Maybe we should have just taken a flying taxi." Leon suggested, stepping into time with Raihan and walking alongside him, who just shook his head in response.

"No point now." He replied, blunt.  
Leon hummed in acknowledgement but kept quiet again the rest of the way, only letting out a small noise of triumph as the Stadium finally came into view before running ahead of Raihan in an attempt to make it on time to the Press Conference.

"Hey! You'll get lost again!" Raihan called after him, chasing him in earnest.  
"There's still time before the Conference." He added, panting as he caught up with him.  
Even though he had longer legs, somehow he always struggled to outrun Leon.

"Where exactly do you have to go anyway?"  
"Oh... I don't know..." He replied sheepishly, stopping at the entrance of the Stadium to check his phone once more.  
"Really, Lee. You're hopeless."  
"There's a conference room itself there, Oleana told me to go there." He pocketed his phone once more and set foot into the building.  
"Just ask one of the League Staff where it is, saves time."

Leon agreed and stepped up to the reception while Raihan proceeded to check himself over with his front-facing camera.  
Granted, it didn't offer the best angle when it opened, but he shifted himself until the light hit him just right and the angle was good enough for him and snapped a quick photo for good measure while he waited, smiling in satisfaction at the end result.  
He hadn't noticed Leon standing there waiting, arms folded until he had finished taking the photo.

"You're such a narcissist." Leon remarked.  
"I don't know what that means, but sure." He agreed.  
"Did you find out where to go or have you forgotten already?" Raihan joked, closing the space between them once more.  
"Yeah it's on the first door on the right as soon as you go to the second floor." He explained.  
"Straightforward then, do you still want me to come with you?"  
Leon shrugged.  
"If you want to, you know I don't want to bore you. It really will be dull as dishwater. Don't say I didn't warn you."  
"Yeah I know what Press Conferences are like... Maybe I'll sneak into the audience and ask you some spicy questions instead."  
" _Don't you dare._ " Leon laughed, resisting the urge to smack his arm.  
"What? At least you wouldn't be bored." He smirked. "Anyway you should get going before Oleana strings you up."

Leon hovered momentarily, fighting off the urge to kiss him there and then.  
If Raihan hadn't turned to sit on a nearby bench, he had no idea what he would have done, and he was thankful for it in the end.  
He let out a sigh he hadn't realised he'd been keeping inside and turned on his heel to head up the stairs.

"...Was it the first door on the left? Or the right?"

-

The Press Conference seemed to end just as soon as it had started, and it was a good thing, really, but he did wonder whether there was any point to it if Rose ended up accepting just five questions from the floor on his behalf as soon as the announcement was made.

"They asked all they needed to."  
Was what he said as soon as Leon had questioned it himself, and he decided to leave it at that since the last thing he wanted to see was an angry Rose.

"Oleana make sure to put the ticket sales on schedule for tomorrow, I'm confident we'll have a complete sell-out in mere seconds."

"Yes Sir." Oleana obeyed and Rose turned his attention to Leon once more with a smile, from what he could tell he was in a good mood, at least.  
"You did well to deviate from the useless questions, you know. You're free to have the rest of the day off now."  
He glanced around at Raihan, still sat on the benches nearby.  
"Just don't do anything reckless." He added somewhat cryptically as he excused himself to carry on with his own business.

Leon tilted his head in confusion at the remark and eventually shrugged it off before approaching Raihan once more, who seemed to absorbed in whatever he was doing on his phone yet again to realise he was standing there.  
Leon did enjoy watching Raihan's expressions change as he stared at his phone, unaware of his surroundings though, and he knew he was taking some kind of advantage of him for doing so but it completely endeared him to Raihan.

He cleared his throat in an attempt to grab his attention without acting too needy, and it seemed to only take one try to get him to look up.  
"Hey, taking photos of yourself again?" He accused, smiling as Raihan became flustered all of a sudden in response.  
"N-no."  
That was a yes, then.  
"You're finished early." He added hastily, a poor attempt to distract Leon from the spectacle he'd seen, but there was no way he was forgetting it any time soon.  
"Yeah, for some reason Rose only allowed 5 questions, and they ended up being pretty dire questions..."  
"Huh... So, does that mean you're free now?"  
Leon smiled and nodded.  
"How about we go to that Arcade that's just opened in the centre of Wyndon? I want to have a go on one of the claw machines."  
"You're on." Raihan replied, grinning, letting his competitiveness get the better of him once more.  
"First one to win a prize gets to... Dare the other to do something." He suggested, nodding.  
" _Something?_ That's vague." Leon laughed.  
"Come on man I don't know what the prize can be."  
"No, that's perfect. Get yourself ready for the dare." He challenged, laughing as Raihan glared at him.  
"Speak for yourself."

-

As was standard Leon had easily defeated Raihan in the challenge they had set each other, having only successfully win a prize on the claw machine after the third attempt.  
He decided to gift the plushie to Raihan in the end, though, not out of spite but because he intended to win it for him all along.

"Are you going to give it a name?"  
" _I'm not 5 Lee_ "  
Leon met his gaze with sadness the moment he uttered otherwise.  
"Alright fine, just stop looking at me like that... I'll call it... Bob."  
"You are _not_ calling it Bob."

-

They made time for each other for the rest of the evening, after playing multiple rounds of Air Hockey, Raihan having managed to won one of the many, they decided to head out for food as they had planned together for a while, dodging the barrage of press that accosted them at every turn in the streets of Wyndon instead of finally giving in and returning back to Leon's apartment to order food in, instead.

"They're so hungry for scoops..." Raihan remarked, peering out the window and shutting the blinds quickly as he fell victim to a stray photograph from one of the many cameramen poised outside.  
"It's ridiculous really, hope the pizza guy manages to get in without getting mobbed." He laughed, sauntering over to Leon's sofa and dropping himself into the vacant seat next to him.

"Though I am glad things turned out this way, at least we have time together uninterrupted now." He grinned, absentmindedly running his fingers down Leon's arm, oblivious to the cold sweat that formed on his brow as he did so, even oblivious to the nervous gulp from the other man.

"I love spending time with you, Lee, I miss it." He stopped his action then, briefly looking away as if pained by whatever he was thinking at the time.  
"Are you ok Rai? You can talk to me you know."

He simply shook his head and smiled warmly.  
"Forget it. Let's just watch a movie and eat pizza like the good old days."  
Leon wanted to press him further on what had been bothering him but decided against it, he instead carefully rested his head on Raihan's shoulder, like he used to do as a child, he told himself.

-

It seemed like the press had simply camped outside his home, waiting for the moment he finally left to pump him for more questions, he just ignored each and every one as he forced his way through, only giving them remarks now and then that he had no time to be answering their questions.

"Are you and Gym Leader Raihan an item?" Was one of the questions that had rung in his ears even if it was unrelated to the barrage of other questions that had been directed at him as he passed through, most of them of course related to the upcoming battle with Lance.

_Message from Oleana!_

Leon barely heard it over the noise of the media, but he managed to hear it all the same and decided to evade the press first before opening it, even as demanding as she could be.

Unfortunately they weren't letting up at all, following his every move as he turned each corner, and the number of people only seemed to grow as time passed so the only thing for it in the end was releasing his Charizard and flying to somewhere unknown and secluded.

He opened up the message from Oleana immediately and skimmed it over.  
"You are to meet Lance today, the meal with him has been reschedulded."  
He decided to overlook the typo, she was only human too after all.  
"The ticket sales sold out in one minute."  
That was good news at least, he usually sold out but never to that speed before.

_Message from Hop!_

"Leeeeeeeeeeee I couldn't get a ticket to ur match can u sneak me in :("  
He couldn't help but laugh at that, Hop always got what he wanted after all.  
"Of course"  
"Yay thanks :D"

He returned to the chat with Oleana and typed up a response to her before she lost her temper.  
"That's good."  
He sent off the simple message and started on another quickly.  
"What time and where is the meal?"

"It's the same restaurant and same time, I was told to invite Raihan again too for whatever reason please ensure he comes along too."

"Ok" He replied simply, clenching his teeth as soon as he typed it back to her.

He didn't _want_ Lance to meet Raihan, even if it was completely selfish of him, even knowing how much it meant to him.  
He sighed and limbered himself up, patting his cheeks.  
"It's fine... Raihan wouldn't overlook you over some old dragon guy, right?"  
He nodded to himself reassuringly, he was certain that Raihan cared more about him than some trainer past his prime.  
"Pfft, legend.. I beg to differ."

-

"Hey Lee! You made it on your own this time! And on time- I'm so proud of you" Raihan half-joked, closing the empty space between them as they both lingered outside.  
He simply rolled his eyes.  
"Must be your powerful influence." He countered, again resisting the urge of doing something that he'd probably end up regretting in the long run.  
He glanced around them for any sign of anyone else, surprised they were seemingly the first to arrive.

"Is nobody else here yet?" He asked.  
"Oh yeah, they're inside. So technically you are the last, I just wanted to help you out with the directions if need be.  
Leon glared up at the taller man, but couldn't hold the scowl for long as he endeared himself to him through such simple expressions.  
"I don't know what I'd do without you."  
Raihan let the remark hang in the air, because he definitely felt the same but didn't have the courage to word it, too.  
"Let's go inside." He said instead, moving ahead of Leon to rush inside, flustered.

By the time the pair had headed in and sat down to look at the menus between them, as Oleana and Rose had already made their decisions, the fifth person finally made his appearance to join them, hands raised as if in apology.  
"Sorry for the constant delays, travel can be really unpredictable."  
Rose immediately got to his feet to greet the man, subtly gesturing for the others to do the same out of courtesy and they each relented at different times.

Leon didn't see anything extraordinary about this guy now that he was here in the flesh, especially the way he carried himself, he really did just seem like an average person.  
"It's nice to meet you, Rose, sir." He heard them exchange words, though the conversation shut off as he felt his head swim with some kind of emotion that he couldn't put his finger on.  
He snapped out of it the moment Rose approached him with Lance at his side.  
"This is the Champion of our region, Leon." He introduced.

Leon smiled sweetly at him, years of practice put into motion as he nodded in response and shook his hand the moment Lance had raised it to him.  
"I've heard a lot about you, let's have a great match on Saturday!"  
"Yeah... Of course."  
He knew he should have said something else, and he could tell by Lance's expression that that was the wrong thing to have said, but he also couldn't have cared less.

He took up his seat once more, resting his head in his hand as he glanced over at Raihan, scowling as he recognised the starry eyed look and agape mouth.  
_He's nothing special, Raihan._  
He seemed to snap out of it the moment Rose had introduced him to Lance too, and their exchange seemed to go a lot better than his and Leon's, at least.  
"This is Gym Leader Raihan, the second best trainer Galar has to offer." 

"H-hi I've been your fan forever!" Raihan began, cursing himself at the babble that poured from his lips before clearing his throat to correct himself.  
"I.. I mean, it's nice to meet you, I.. like dragons.."  
Leon couldn't help but smile at how endearing he was when flustered, but the flames of jealousy sparked once more the moment Lance laughed and replied.  
"I like dragons too."

He took up the vacant seat on Raihan's other side while everyone else sat in their respective seats, and Raihan was more than ready to talk his idol's ear off as his confidence began to grow.  
"So what would you say is your favourite dragon?" Was one of the many questions he threw at him, and it almost reminded Leon of the media that followed his every move, and if he was honest the whole spectacle was starting to bore him.

He held his chin in thought, considering his answer carefully before giving it.  
"There are a lot but I'd have to say Charizard, you can't beat the Kanto dragons."  
"Not a dragon." Leon spoke up.  
"Excuse me?"  
" _Lee what are you doing?_ "  
"Charizard is a fire type... Just correcting you." He shrugged.  
"Oh.. haha... Well, then.." Lance replied sheepishly.  
"Then uh.. Dragonite." He added, staring down at the table, embarrassment taking over his calm demeanour.  
Silence hung in the air so much so it started to feel stifling until Raihan had broken it again in an attempt to rescue the situation.  
"Have you seen Duraludon before? It's pretty cool."  
Lance shook his head.  
"No, what is it?"  
"It... doesn't look like a dragon either really but it has steel typing. One sec I'll get up a pic for you."  
Leon proceeded to bury his face in the menu as means of distraction, he was really hating every moment of this and of course Raihan would try and salvage the situation.  
"Here."

Leon peeked beyond the menu and gripped it tighter as he glimpsed Raihan interacting with and smiling lovingly at Lance as he showed him the picture on his phone.  
"What's that?" Lance asked, pointing at another photo.  
"Oh I uh, like taking photos sometimes too.." He admitted, face flushing a shade of pink.  
"You _took_ that?? That's amazing!" Lance remarked excitedly, and Leon was half tempted to throw the menu at his head.

Instead he ended up snapping and doing something arguably worse.  
"Shut up! Just shut up! Arceus you're so _annoying!_ "  
" _Raihan tell me more~ Raihan that's amazing~ He's HALF your AGE!_ "

That once uncomfortable silence returned and increased tenfold as everyone around the table and in other parts of the restaurant stared at him, stunned.  
Even Rose had no snide remarks to add to the situation.  
"..S-Sorry, excuse me-"

Leon scrambled to his feet and ran out of there as fast as his legs could take him.  
_Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!_


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you want more of this? I decided to wrap it up here because I thought it was pretty self-explanatory and I'd like to go back to working on other fics now.  
> But if you want more (eg the battle with Lance etc) then I'll probably add an epilogue/other chapter. :)  
> Especially as this one is pretty short.

Even though he had intended to leave Hulbury completely, he didn't end up going far after all, he stopped himself as he reached the lighthouse and sat himself down near the Toxtricity statues for want of anything better to do, not giving a care as to whether anyone would end up finding him there.  
That was a lie he told himself, though, because part of him had hoped that Raihan would have followed him there and they could at least talk it out between themselves, but at the same time he knew that his outburst left him less than deserving of his attention.

He let out a long sigh and remained there, staring at the clouds as he lost himself in his thoughts, which were mostly involving Raihan if he was honest.

"So this is where you've gotten to."  
He snapped out of it and turned his attention to the direction of the voice, a little hopeful that Raihan had followed him after all but of course it was none other than Rose in his stead.  
He was still surprised, though.  
He regarded his movements and said nothing, half tempted to turn his attention to the clouds once more.

Rose's eyes narrowed in annoyance at the snub, yet his smile remained as he approached him further.  
"Calmed down yet? I think you should be getting back and apologising to Lance." He said, though it sounded more like an order than a suggestion to Leon.  
He simply nodded, not in the mood to incur the Chairman's wrath.  
"Yes, sir.."

He rose to his feet, stretching a little before going ahead of Rose in an attempt to find his way back to the restaurant, unaware that he was following at a distance.  
"Not that way."  
Leon stopped in his tracks and glanced behind to see Rose catching up with him, sighing as he stopped beside him.  
"You really are hopeless aren't you? It's a wonder you get by on a daily basis." He remarked, proceeding to lead the way.

Leon was half tempted to continue his pettiness and just leave Hulbury altogether on the back of his Charizard, but he decided against it and continued to follow him until he finally reached the restaurant.  
Whether they decided to call the meal off completely, or whether they had already eaten, he had no idea, but by the time they had gotten there the three were already lingering outside.

"Sorry for taking so long" Rose began, gesturing to Leon behind him as if that was enough of an explanation to explain himself.

Before giving Rose the opportunity to goad him even more, he stepped up to Lance and chewed his lip hesitantly before saying a word.  
"I'm sorry about that... I know I was out of order, I just..." His gaze averted to Raihan at his side, and he felt at a loss for words all of a sudden.  
"I don't know what came over me." He explained, dropping his gaze to the floor before Raihan could meet his eye.  
"It won't happen again."

Luckily for him Lance seemed to be pretty understanding about the situation, simply shrugging off as if it was nothing and offering his hand to Leon.  
"It's fine, we're only human after all. Right?"  
Leon blinked, uncertain before smiling a little and nodding, taking his hand and shaking it.  
"Yeah, that we are..." He replied, chancing a glance at Raihan once more in an attempt to read him.  
He still couldn't precisely work out what was going through his mind in that moment, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was completely and utterly disappointed in him.  
And he wouldn't blame him either if that was what he was thinking, but it still hurt to think about.

"Well... I guess I'll see you again on Saturday, in better and hopefully more exciting circumstances."  
"Of course, may the best trainer win." Lance replied, laughing as Leon made a face at that.  
_It will be me of course._  
Leon had thought to himself, but he left it unworded before Oleana and Rose whisked the Kanto Champion away to show him around other parts of Galar.

The air felt stifling as Raihan regarded Leon in the moment that they had left, and Leon was all of a sudden frightened all over again at the idea that the outburst did nothing more than push Raihan away.  
"What the hell was that?" He began, his tone reflecting all of his annoyance and possible anger with him.  
Leon averted his eyes as he considered his answer, and regardless of how long he thought about it he just came up empty because there was no good explanation.  
Other than jealousy, but he wasn't about to admit to that anytime soon.

"I... Don't know. I guess I was just..." He hesitated, dancing around the word in want of a better alternative.

"Just what, Leon?" Raihan bit back.

He sighed and finally admitted it to Raihan, and to himself too.  
"I was _jealous_ ok? I don't know why I just... It felt like you... Liked him more than me, that's all." 

Now that it was out in the open, he realised just how stupid the whole situation was, and he still couldn't look Raihan in the eye as he mulled over his answer.  
He didn't see the smile that began to play on his lips.  
" _Is that all?_ Lee.... There's nothing to be jealous of, you mean the world to me, you know. Nobody comes close, we _have_ known each other since we were kids, after all. I... treasure you so much."

He felt his cheeks flush red at that, and he wanted to tell him the same.  
"I... feel the same way, Rai. I... I can even go so far as to say I love you... Is that weird?" He swallowed nervously, wanting to take back his words just as soon as he'd said them but he knew it was far too late for that now.  
He shut his eyes tight in embarassment, not hearing the footsteps approaching him before he was pulled into an embrace.

"I love you too, you silly chicken. It's not weird at all. Please look at me."

Leon obeyed, slowly opening his eyes as he was asked and stared into the icy blue eyes of the man towering above him, shivering as he carefully cupped his chin with one hand to pull him forward for a gentle kiss, enveloping him in his large arms again thereafter and hugging him tight.

Raihan laughed at the whole situation.  
"I can't believe you were actually _jealous_ of someone, I don't know whether to be flattered or not."  
Leon pouted and said nothing, favouring burying himself in the crook of Raihan's next, uncaring of anyone that potentially saw them canoodling in the center of Hulbury.


End file.
